Edinburgh - A City of Bagpipes, Brews, and Burns

View of Edinburgh Castle, Old and New Towns from Calton Hill

A four-and-a-half hour train ride from London takes you to the capital of Scotland: majestic and brooding Edinburgh. The medieval city, lorded over by the 12th century castle, sits on one side of Princes Street, while the new city--designed by a 23-year-old planner in 1766--fills the other half. We spent our first afternoon hiking up to the castle, which houses the royal jewels and a lovely small chapel built by King David I to honor his mother, St. Margaret. Another steep climb took us up Calton Hill, the highest point of the new town and a hang out of the philosopher David Hume. From these vantage points Edinburgh sweeps out to the Firth of Forth and the North Sea beyond: a jumble of soot-stained stone buildings, cobbled streets, grand squares, dramatic crags, and monuments to the great Scotsmen who gave the world modern economics (Adam Smith), an ode to haggis (Robbie Burns), and romances filled with kilt-wearing knights (Sir Walter Scott). While we avoided the haggis (aka boiled offal-filled sheep's intestine) we did feast on smoked haddock, neeps, tatties, and a fair amount of stout.